Introduction
Batimea Puaaiki (Blind Bartimeus) was the second Protestant Christian to be baptized in the Hawaiian Kingdom and the first ordained Protestant minister. He was one of the first members, along with his wife, of the church at Lahaina, and preached the gospel before, during and after the Great Hawaiian Revival on multiple islands including Maui, Hawaii, Molokai, and Oahu, and had an enormous influence on the ali’I as well as the general populace for Christianity.
Multiple biographies of his life were written and published by several missionaries who knew him personally, and over the years many newspaper and magazine articles have been published on his life, but he was not known to have published any works of his own. However, while researching the Great Hawaiian Revival for my PhD dissertation, I recently discovered three newspaper articles in an online newspaper archive which indicate his authorship, in the same way other authors in the paper were identified in the publication. These works appear to have been written by Batimea and may be his only published works. The time, location, and subject matter of the articles seem to align well with his known ministry at that time. This report outlines the background of that discovery, the evidence for provenance, and its significance.
The Newspaper Articles:
Batimea, Ke Kumu Hawaii, Volume I, Number 13, 29 April 1835, p.103, accessed April 29, 2025, www.papakilodatabase.com.
Google Translation from Hawaiian to English (Some translation errors may be present due to limits of the translation system):
“Brothers and sisters. Here is this explanation for us, when we are confused about what kills the souls of people. Living with luxury and pleasure, and our complete destruction of the things of this world. This is the thing that will damage our souls, and the souls of our friends.
One will return. Let us fear the sight of God without covetousness. Appoint governors who faithfully follow God’s word, and report what God says to the citizens. Their eyes were darkened when they left, and heedless.
Here’s another big idea: about chaos, and the sudden end of the things of this world. For that reason, let us hope for a good, eternal land in the heaven of the new Jerusalem. There are many things that people think about in the world, but God will soon bring to an end all the things that they are looking for. Peter said, “The end of all things is at hand.” All the things of this world are fumes if they persist in the perishable things of the body.
Brothers; Is it a royal stone wall forever? Maybe not. The last of these is death. “For to be carnally minded is death. Romans viii. 6.
The ears of the people are very fat and hard to hear what God says. But he didn’t care. but they are in eternal pain. For it is written in Romans ii. 9. “There is evil and death upon all the souls of men who do evil.” How can people move backwards and forwards, as if in a dream? They will never be able to do it. By Batimea.
Batimea, “Where are you brothers from Hawaii to Kauai?” Ke Kumu Hawaii, Volume I, Number 11, 1 April 1835, 88, accessed April 29, 2025, www.papakilodatabase.com.
Original Hawaiian Article Transcribed by www.papakilodatabase.com:
Hilo, Hawaii.
Auhea oukou, e na hoahanau, mai Hawaii nei a Kauai?
Eia ka mea hoakaka ia oukou. E pule mau aku i ke Akua. E waiho loa i na hana ino i hoopailuaia e ke Akua. He nui loa ka poino ana a me ka ehaeha ma ia mau mea. O ka hoolohe ana i ka ke Akua olelo a me ka malama ana, he mea ia e ola’i na kanaka.
E na makua, e alakai oukou i ka oukou mau keiki ma ka pono a Iesu. No ka mea, o ka malama ole ana, oia ka mea e ulu nui ai ka hewa me he weuweu la. E na makua, e hahai oukou i ka malamalama nani mau loa. Pela hoi e hahai ai na kamalii, i ua malamalama mau la, i ono ai ua kamalii e like me ka ono ana i ka waiu. E ae ana lakou i ka pono a ka Haku i ka po a me ke ao. I lilo ai ka pono i puni na kakou a me na kamalii. I nui ai hoi ka hoonaniia o ke Akua Hemolele e kanaka.
Auhea oukou e na ekalesia, mai Hawaii nei a Kauai, aole ke Akua i haawi mai ia kakou i ka naau hohewale, i naau kaa loa. E lawe ana i ka pahikaua, i ka olelo o ke aloha make o Iesu. E o’u hoahanau, aole neia pahi i like i ko ke ao nei. Mai ke Akua mai keia pahi, o ka pahi keia a ka poe manaoio i lawe ai. O ka olelo o kona lokomaikai iho, oia ka pahi a lakou i kaua aku ai. O ka Iesu olelo oia ka pu a me ka ihe a ko Iesu poe koa. He pahi maoli anei ka Paulo i kaua aku ai? Na oukou, e na hoahanau, e hoike ae.
Na BATIMEA.
Google Translation from Hawaiian to English (Some translation errors may be present due to limits of the translation system):
“Where are you, brothers, from Hawaii to Kauai?
Here is the explanation for you. Always pray to God. Let go of evil deeds that are abhorred by God. There is a lot of damage and suffering in those things. Listening to what God says and keeping it is something that will save people.
Parents, guide your children in the righteousness of Jesus. Because neglect is what causes sin to grow like a weed. Fathers, follow the eternally beautiful light. In the same way, the children follow the light, so that the children taste it like they taste milk. They will accept the righteousness of the Lord night and day. So that justice will be around us and the children. So that the Holy God will be greatly glorified by people.”
Where are you, churches, from Hawaii to Kauai, God did not give us a broken heart, a broken heart. Taking the sword, the message of Jesus’ death love. My brother, there is no sword like that of the world. This sword is from God; this is the sword that the believers have taken. The word of his own kindness was the sword with which they fought. The words of Jesus are the guns and spears of Jesus’ soldiers. Is it a real sword that Paul fought with? It is up to you, brothers, to testify. By BATIMEA.
Batimea and Kawailepolepo, “Excellent Meeting”, Ke Kumu Hawaii, Vol. III, No. 7, August 30, 1837, p. 28, accessed April 29, 2025, www.papakilodatabase.com.
Google Translator from Hawaiian to English (Some mistakes may be present due to limits of the translation system):
EXCELLENT MEETING.
WAILUKU, Aug. 17, 1837.
“We have a continuous week in Wailuku in the month of July. Dibble came from Lahainaluna to help us, and when he came here, he was soon ill. A small artery of the white liver was torn, and blood came from it, that was his disease. Here was the priest from Lapland, who ran to him, took his hand, and treated him several times for several days, and he was relieved. It was strange that Dibble was weak in those days, but God saved him. What a blessing.
But because of this illness, we made a little mistake at the very meeting; but not a lot, because Mi and I have been given strength. Gelina, often preached the word of salvation in front of people; and the Holy Spirit also helped. That’s because our work will make us sick. It’s easy to share good news when it’s embraced by those who hear it. The heart returns.
Many people came to this continuous prayer. It was not like this before. On Sunday, the church and the school were full at 11 o’clock. Some people came from Hana, and others came from east Maui and around, and they came because they wanted to.
I think that God has accepted our prayer; some stubborn people turned, and some stupid people rose again, and fear entered into some fearless people. The faith of the ecclesiastics also increased a little.
Here too, after a strong continuous prayer, some men thought about the work of the hand for the kingdom of God. Two working days in one week, Monday night and Friday night. Fifty people participated in this work for God. They are working on the fence of Mi’s school. Gelina at that time. Almost closed.
We are lonely now. The garden is abundant, but the laborers are few. Many people went to pray in Haiku every Sunday, this Sunday, no one told them the word of God. There are also many children in Sunday school there. When I was there just before, there were 550 children in Sunday school. If the children were together with the adults, they would never enter the great church; the house is full. The same is true in Honuaula. Many people and children have turned their face to justice. And so is Kula. The people, and the children, go to school and pray, but we are lacking in the amount of work, there are few people who will do it – we are also working with some native relatives in this garden, Batimea and Kawailepolepo. L.”
Attribution Argument:
There are several reasons to attribute this article to Batimea Puaaiki.
Name Signature: His name appears at the end of each article, which was the typical signing fashion of writers in this paper. The name was rare at that time and was received at his time of baptism by the missionaries, who also contributed greatly in the production of this paper. At the time of publication, he was both in Hilo, Hawaii in 1835 (Bingham records he left Hilo in February 1836 for Maui) and in Wailuku, Maui in 1837.
Background Clues: The articles all cover encouraging the believers of the church to good work and proper living. The dates in the articles coincide with his ministry in both places, including the specific references to meetings in East Maui in which it is recorded that he worked and toured preaching the gospel.
Absence of Other Candidates: No other individuals with the same first name were prominent or publicly writing articles in the newspaper during that period. Nor do any other authorship claim conflict with this provenance.
Historical Significance
If this attribution is accepted, the article provides:
- The first recognized published writing by Batimea.
- Unswerving insight into his voice, thoughts, and linguistic style.
- A richer picture of his role in the growth of Christianity in the Hawaiian Islands including the islands of Hawaii and Maui.
This challenges the notion that Batimea left no direct literary legacy and opens the door for reexamination of newspaper archives for supplementary writings.
Conclusion
This report suggests that the articles published in the Ke Kumu Hawaii newspaper on April 1, 1835, April 29, 1835, and August 30, 1837, all signed by Batimea, should be considered the earliest known publications by Batimea. While further corroboration is encouraged, the core and contextual evidence strongly supports this provenance.
About the Discoverer
My name is Nick Freeman, and I am writing my PhD dissertation on the Great Hawaiian Revival of the early 1800’s. While researching various books and articles on Batimea and others, I stumbled upon these articles after searching his name in the database during the period. Up until this moment I had no knowledge of him authoring any publications. Most of the articles found had been written about his life and ministry, however these were noted as being penned by Batimea, which piqued my curiosity and caused me to research the times and city locations in further detail.